


Blow the Roof

by harmonicdistortion



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/F, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-10
Updated: 2015-02-10
Packaged: 2018-03-11 14:02:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3329003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harmonicdistortion/pseuds/harmonicdistortion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During one of her lunch dates with Asami, Korra is suddenly forced to make one of the biggest decisions involving their relationship: stand up, or stand down? Does Asami want a fighter, or a little wuss?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blow the Roof

**Author's Note:**

> So finally, here's my first attempt at writing fanfiction when I've been meaning to this for seven years now. This piece is actually inspired by an episode of one of my favorite TV shows, and if you figure out what it is, consider us buddies. Also, I'm not familiar with fanfiction lingo so I have no idea if I tagged this right.
> 
> And also, English is not my first language so I'm open to grammatical corrections as well as criticism for future works. So thank you in advance, people. I hope you enjoy my first. Have a great day!

It was a nice sunny afternoon in Republic City when Asami took Korra for a quick ride downtown on their way to a teashop for some lunch. The Avatar had somehow managed to drag her out of work again by barging into the Future Industries satomobile factory in the middle of a welding procedure, and even though it almost set the entire place on fire, she knew Korra all too well; she'll never stop pestering her until she gives in. It was a sweet gesture, yes, how she would always remind her that she works too hard sometimes, though her methods of persuasion weren't exactly the best. And that's probably why Asami always finds herself saying yes.

Korra held on to Asami from behind as they took the highway, her fingers pressed lightly against her waist, grinning as she enjoyed the mild breeze. Asami was trying her very best to keep her eyes on the road, but the way her girlfriend held her was distractingly ticklish. She struggled, praying that she'd be able to keep enough focus to drive to their destination safely.

Eventually they arrived at 51st street, downtown, where the teashop was located. Before the moped came to a full stop, Korra hopped off and removed her helmet in one swift motion, setting it aside. She watched as Asami parked by the curb and step off as soon as she did so. Korra couldn't help but stare with her jaw dropped as Asami removed her helmet, flipping her long raven hair so that it settled perfectly along her shoulders in slow motion, at least from her point of view. It was breathtaking. No wonder Mako was left at a loss for words when he first saw it.

Asami turned to Korra and noticed her staring. "What is it? Do I still have grease on my face?"

_Right. Like that'll happen._

Korra considers it a phenomenon, as mysterious as the art of bending itself, how Asami always manages to keep her face clean and still look beautiful no matter what she does, no matter where she is. In fact, when she fetched her from the factory earlier, everyone she was working with was practically covered in grease and dirt everything else, while she looked so out of place glowing in the middle of the room, when she was practically doing the same thing everyone else was doing. It was just as obscure as her hair flips.

"How do you do that?" Korra found herself blurting out.

"Do what?" 

"Your hair flip thingy," Korra's hands moved around as she talked. She looked genuinely confused. "Every time you do that, it's like the sun shines brighter, the birds sing louder, and suddenly there are stars during daytime. And time always slows down. Seriously, how? It's weird."

Asami couldn't help but laugh. She took Korra by the hand and said, "You are such a dork."

She led her down the street, as the shop was only a block away. However, when they arrived, Asami frowned upon finding out that it was already full, with several people even waiting in line outside. "Wow, this place must really serve some serious tea," Korra observed. "What now?" 

"Let's just find another place to eat."

"Narook's?" Korra suggested with a goofy grin, knowing Asami might say no due to the fact that they go there almost every day for lunch because it has grown to be Korra's favorite place to eat in the city over the years, thanks to Bolin.

And Asami knew this; she secretely favored eating there as well, so she just smiled and said, "The usual spot, eh? Come on."

They started walking back towards the moped, but as they did, a large man suddenly bumped into Asami, almost knocking her over. The man, who had shaggy brown hair and a scruffy beard, looking like he was in his early thirties, stared at the ground with a dramatic scowl. Not only did he manage to drop the box of flaming fire flakes he has been nibbling on, he also stepped on them in the process. And yes, he was pretty mad about it. "Look what you did! You made me drop my flakes," he yelled, turning and pointing a finger at Asami. "Watch where you're going, ho!"

And that was when they manage to attract the attention of the people nearby. Korra's ears jerked up upon hearing what they all just heard. "Wait, what did you just call her?"

"I called her a ho, bitch," he taunted, raising his arms. His words were slurred, his face was flushed, and he almost fell back himself. He was obviously drunk.

Asami couldn't help placing a hand over her forehead. That was it; she knew Korra all too well to know what was going to happen next. And she prayed that this man would come to his senses and run away while he still can. He probably had no idea that he had just insulted the chief executive officer of Future Industries, as well as the Avatar's girlfriend, and so Korra decided that this guy needed a good old ass-whoopin' just to remind him who they were. Korra braced herself, cracking her knuckles and grinning because she knew she could easily beat him to a pulp, but just when she was about to take a leap forward and ruin the guy's face, Asami grabbed on to her arm and walked up to the guy herself, mildly stomping her feet.

"Okay, listen up," Asami told him. "I know why you're angry, and that's probably because you're drunk. And this isn't really a good time of day to be drunk. So now you're walking alone, angry and intoxicated, picking fights and insulting everyone you see. But you're day's just about to get even worse because you're going home with one boot."

The man probably didn't understand half of what she said, and so he tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow, obviously confused. He then looked down and watched cluelessly as Asami knelt down so she could yank the boot off of his stinky left foot, and that was when he finally managed to catch on to what was about to happen.

"Roof it! Roof it!" the crowd chanted. Asami smirked as she held the man's boot in her hand. "Oh, no, no, no," he pleaded. "Please don't roof my boot."

"Oh, it's getting roofed," she said, and with the crowd watching in anticipation, Asami tossed the thing up the roof of the teashop and waited to make sure it doesn't come back down. And upon seeing the successful attempt, the crowd went wild, and Asami pressed her fists against her hips, beaming triumphantly.

"That was awesome," said one spectator as the noise began to die out. The crowd was slowly dispersing.

"Wait, isn't that Asami Sato?"

And Korra, who had been staring the whole time, just couldn't figure it all out. She looked around and watched everyone leave, including the drunkard, who stared at the roof before he eventually gave up and walked away. Korra watched him as he did so, and her eyes finally settled on Asami again. "What just happened?" she asked, to no one in particular.

Another spectator dropped his hand on her shoulder, saying, "Your girlfriend's a badass."

-

The next day, Korra and Bolin decided to take a walk at the city park named after her, enjoying some ice cream. They were walking down a stone path near one of the ponds with several children running past them, and they were talking about how Bolin was planning on doing something nice for Opal on their anniversary next week. Korra tried to listen, but for some reason she kept spacing out, and she just couldn't get something off of her mind.

"I mean, I could have taken this guy, even without bending, you know," she suddenly said, cutting him off in the middle of explaining his elaborate plan for a romantic date, which strangely involved Nuktuk again. "And the next thing I knew, Asami was roofing his boot. I... I shouldn't be feeling weird about this, right?"

"Actually, I think you should be," said Bolin, impatiently taking a bite from his scoop. He was never really the type who takes his sweet time licking ice cream. Bolin already knew, as it was the first thing Korra talked about when they rendezvoused earlier. She didn't even give him the chance to greet her.

Korra looked him. "Wait, what?"

"I think I have a fix for this. We should go look for the guy and beat him up, maybe throw a few rocks on his face while we're at it," he suggested. "Or lava. Maybe lava. Because lava's hot, you know."

"So your solution to my problem is to track down a random drunkard I just met yesterday outside a teashop, who probably isn't even a bender, just to chuck rocks down his throat?" Korra raised an eyebrow. "You do know that there's a chance that Asami might kill me when she finds out, right?"

"If she finds out, that is," Bolin shrugged indifferently. He started picturing the possible scenario in his head. "And then, when you two get down and try to beat each other up, I'll be like, "let them work it out," and once you kick his butt, that's when I'll get down and bite him."

Korra just stared at him, and he looked at her, taking notice of her confused, and at the same time irritated, scowl. After a while, he suddenly laughed and lightly bumped his elbow against her arm, saying, "I'm just joking, buddy. And don't think about it too much. Asami can handle herself, as she's proven hundred of times before, and I actually think it was pretty cool, what she did yesterday. I wish I could have seen it."

Korra managed to force an awkward laugh as she rubbed her arm, "Yeah, it was pretty cool, I guess."

That was that, she figured, and they proceeded to talk about other things, mostly about Bolin and Opal again.

Later that afternoon, Korra returned to the Sato Estate since Bolin had to take Opal to lunch. She spent her time lying in the garden out back after playing with Naga for over an hour when she realized that she actually had nothing to do for the rest of the day. It has been three days since she returned from a month-long diplomatic trip to the Earth Kingdom with Prince Wu and Mako, who still remained his bodyguard, as well as several other important figureheads representing the four nations.

She was given two months to take a break before she sets out again since it was agreed that Wu was capable of handling everything on his own for now, but every now and then she needed to be called out for meetings at city hall, or crimes in the city that the local police couldn't handle, mostly involving the triads, but all were very rare cases. And today was probably one of those days.

Korra still couldn't stop thinking about the roofing fiasco yesterday, and for some reason it really bothered her. So she got up and went back inside, straight into Asami's office where she picked up the phone.

In the Future Industries tower at the industrial district, Asami was sitting in her office, quietly reviewing several drafting files when her phone suddenly rang. She let it ring for several seconds before she finally picked it up. "Future Industries, this is Asami Sato speaking," she greeted, her voice plain, but clear.

"Hey."

She smiled upon hearing Korra's voice on the other line. "Hey there, sweetie. What's up?"

"Nothing, just wanted to see how you're doing."

Asami couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. It wasn't like Korra to just call her up randomly just to ask her how she was doing at work. In fact, she hated telephones. Usually she would just barge in there herself, carrying lunch bags, or sometimes just to completely drag her out of work, which Asami could never say no to. She knew something was up, but she answered anyway, "It's pretty rough so far. I have to submit several files tomorrow for new Satomobile designs and I just realized that most of them haven't been finalized. I also need to make a few minor changes."

Listening to Asami talk about engineering and business-related things really turned her on, even when she really can't understand most of what she's saying.

"That's great!" Korra said, obviously not paying attention. "Listen, I totally could have taken that guy yesterday."

Asami couldn't help smirking. She knew it. "Of course, sweetie. You're the Avatar," she cooed. "I bet you would have."

Korra awkwardly cleared her throat, blushing, "But I didn't because I didn't know if you were into the whole tough, protective thing."

"Korra," the older one said plainly. "Big, musclebound hotheads. That's a huge turn-off for me. That's why I decided to roof that idiot's boot myself. I mean, I could have done worse but for heaven's sake, the man was drunk."

"Y-Yeah, I knew that, which is why I didn't do anything when that guy called you a dirty ho."

"It was just ho," Asami corrected, "There was no dirt--why would you add 'dirty'? Well, anyway, I'm glad you didn't because I'm into the levelheaded, sweet, smart, sensitive and funny type. Basically you."

"I also have piercing blue eyes," Korra added.

She couldn't help but laugh. "Of course you do. Too bad I can't see them right now."

Korra sat back on her chair and grinned like a goofball. "Well, anyway, I don't plan on keeping you," she said. "I know you have a lot of nerdy engineering stuff that you should be getting back to. Dinner later?"

"Of course," Asami scoffed, mostly because of the nerd remark. "I'll be home at seven. And you stay out of trouble."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I love you."

"Yeah, I love you too."

-

After Korra got off the phone with Asami, she sat back with her feet on the desk and grinned, and for a minute she was okay again. She looked forward to dinner and already started to think of places they could go so that they wouldn't have to go through the trouble of deciding later on. But after a while it came back when she remembered where the teashop was, and she rustled her hair in frustration. "Damn it," she groaned.

She spent some time in the office, mostly just thinking about how weird it was that she kept dwelling on the roofing incident. She spun the chair around, doodled with her fingers on the cutting mat on the desk, whistled her favorite song, until she finally decided to get up and get out and just take Naga out for a walk to clear her head. She figured perhaps they would find a good way to kill time while walking around the city.

They wandered, occasionally dropping by stalls to grab something to eat until they found themselves traveling all the way down by the harbor.

Several ships were docked, and trucks came and went, delivering cargo to be sent to who knows where. Korra was probably just bored, but she stared at the workers as they carried crates from the trucks to the ships one by one, working together rather efficiently. Toss, catch, load, repeat. Toss, catch, load, repeat. Again, Korra was probably just bored, but she was impressed. And to think these people were just nonbenders.

She walked further down, probably counting the ships she passed by.

"Damn, that Sato is seriously hot," she heard someone say. Again, her ears twitched up, and she followed the voice, which led her to two grown men sitting by a pile of crates, laughing over a local business magazine with Asami on the cover. It was from one of the charity galas that Future Industries hosted several weeks ago. And man, was she gorgeous in that shot. She snuck over behind them and saw that they were looking at pictures of Asami in an evening dress, with her legs exposed up to her thigh.

"Now that's a fine piece of ass," said the other one. "I wonder what she looks like naked."

"Probably a wonderland under that dress."

And they both cackled, rubbing their stomachs as one of them clutched the magazine.

"You take that back!" Korra suddenly yelled from behind them, causing the two of them to flinch and turn to where they heard her voice. Upon seeing that it was just a girl, they both frowned. The bigger one stood up first, setting the magazine aside, followed by shorty, the skinnier one.

"Get lost, missy," the taller one warned. "This isn't the place for little girls like you to wander around."

Korra stomped and jumped down from the crates so that she could land directly in front of them. "How about I beat you up and we'll see who the little girl is?"

They looked at each other, and then back at Korra, obviously irked and confused.

"Who do you think you are, kid?" asked Biggie. "Are you one of those little Sato fangirls?" And the shorter one laughed again.

Korra, ever cocky, cracked her knuckles and said, "Why don't you come and find out?"

Once again, they were both still confused, but they weren't hesitant to give the kid the fight she was looking for, especially when she's the one who insisted.

Biggie was the first one to charge. He rushed forward, running towards Korra, relying mostly on physical strength. He was most likely a nonbender. As he ran, Shorty threw several blasts of fire at Korra, all of which she evaded with ease. By the time Biggie had reached her, Korra evaded a straight punch, using her speed to beat raw power. He stumbled over after missing, and she used the opening to give him an elbow to the back, shoving him right to the ground. This was when Shorty charged, screaming and throwing balls of fire, missing every time. He threw a large blast as a finisher, and Korra bent it back right at him, knocking him over.

Biggie managed to get up on his feet again and quickly grabbed Korra from behind when she let down her guard. He carried her over his head with his bare hands, and prepared to throw Korra against the nearby set of crates, but she used her airbending to free herself and lifted a chunk of rock upon landing to throw it at his face.

"Whoo-hoo!" She cheered as soon as Biggie practically ate that rock, throwing her arms in the air. "Who's the little girl now?" she taunted, hands pressed against her waists as she leaned forward.

By this time, the two men have finally realized that they had picked a fight against the Avatar, and as soon as they got up and regained the strength to run, they scrammed. Back to the ship they went. But Korra wasn't finished. "Yeah, you better keep running!" She jumped up for a front tuck and landed with a smooth ax kick, sending a vertical wave of fire towards them for a finisher.

Unfortunately, she missed and the flames crashed against a set of crates. And that should have ended there, but Korra wasn't that lucky. It turns out that the crates contained gasoline fuel tanks, made visible as Korra destroyed the wood protecting them.

"Oh, no, no, no," she panicked, and ran near the water in an attempt to extinguish the flames before things get worse. But before she could even lift some water, the tanks exploded one by one, each dealing serious damage to everything near them. The wooden walkways, the two nearby ships, and even a cart full of cabbages. "My cabbages!" its owner screamed as he was also sent flying towards the bay due to the impact. And Korra wasn't quick enough, so she was sent flying as well, but not lucky enough to hit water. Instead, she landed on solid ground, but she still managed to remain conscious.

Eventually the explosions stopped, but they left behind a mess so terrible that when Korra lifted herself up using her elbows to see for herself, all she could say was, "Oh no."

-

Abiding by standard protocol, Korra was taken to the local police station by several metalbenders after a long, tiring argument, while Naga was taken back to the Sato Estate. She was taken to one of the interrogation rooms, her wrists bound together by platinum handcuffs. Korra braced herself as she waited, and cursed her bad luck and the fact that Mako was no longer part of the force. Otherwise she would be out of here in no time at all. Or then again maybe not.

The metal door slid open, and Chief Beifong walked in carrying a folder containing several documents. She slapped it against the table and took a seat right across from Korra.

"Just like old times, huh?" the chief remarked.

Korra could only respond with an awkward laugh and a goofy grin, also reminiscing on the first time she was arrested five years ago when she first came to the city.

"Alright, let's get down to business," the chief opened the file and looked down at the documents. One of the pieces of paper contained a mugshot of Korra, which was also taken five years ago. "We have an official incident report based on the witnesses' statements, as well as the two victims."

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up," Korra interrupted. "Victims?"

"Yes, victims," Lin kept her eyes glued on the documents. She continued, "According to the file, you assaulted two workers, blew up seventy fuel tanks, damaged two nearby ships, destroyed the walkway carrying the crates, a cabbage merchant's cart, as well as a satomobile that was parked nearby. Two civilians were also injured in the process. All right, this looks like a valid report. But I'll give you a chance to explain. You have two minutes to convince me."

She looked down at the Avatar patiently, even though she knew that she most likely not be able to defend herself. But Korra, without thinking, insisted. "But those thugs were saying dirty stuff about Asami. I had to defend my girlfriend! Those perverts," she practically yelled. "And for the record, I didn't aim for those crates, and I didn't even know they were fuel tanks."

The Chief managed to let out a sigh, obviously exasperated. One could tell she was doing her best to remain calm. "So let me get this straight. You picked a fight with two workers because, according to the report, they called her a fine piece of ass? And basically blew up one part of the port because of your little rumble?"

"Come to think of it, maybe I should have thought about my explanation on my way here," Korra realized. "Can I call my lawyer?"

"You don't have a lawyer."

"...Right."

"Anyway, since you managed to explain your side of the situation in the poorest way possible, you'll be facing multiple charges for this. This includes arson, assault, among many others, and naturally, we won't be releasing you until this has been taken care of. Tenzin won't be here to save you this time," she pushed the folder towards Korra so she could get a better look at the damages and their worth in yuans. "Look, being the avatar doesn't give you a free pass to rampage around the city for petty reasons. The city hasn't completely recovered yet, and you're already blowing things up again."

Korra looked down at the file and winced at the sight of so many numbers and digits and lists and basically everything. It was like she was allergic to it, and Asami would usually handle these things. It was more her thing than Korra's.

"Either have Future Industries take care of the charges, or find a way to ante up fifteen million yuans in the next forty-eight hours," Lin suggested.

"Oh, no, no way," Korra shook her head. "There's no way Asami could ever know about this. She'll kill me. Or worse. She'll kick me out. I would rather be put in jail."

"Too late. We already called her."

Korra slammed her fists against the table. "What?!"

"Haven't you been reading the statement? The fuel tanks you blew up belonged to Future Industries. They were to be shipped to the Fire Nation. Of course we needed to inform the person who owned them," Lin pointed out. "And this is no small-time incident. People are going to talk. The media will find out. Even if we don't contact her, she'd still find out eventually."

Just then, as if right on cue, the door slid open, revealing Saikhan. "Chief, Ms. Sato has arrived," he declared, causing Korra to flinch.

"Let her in," Lin ordered, keeping her eyes on the Avatar, who was already trembling in her seat.

He gave her a nod and escorted Asami into the room, immediately leaving as soon as he did so, closing the door behind him. Korra wanted to hide under the table as soon as Asami stepped in, who strangely looked so calm as she walked towards the chief. "Chief Beifong, I'm sorry I took so long. I came as quickly as I could," she told her. "What happened, exactly?"

Lin looked at Korra. Korra looked at Lin, then at Asami, then at the table. Lin took this as a signal to take over and just tell the story herself. She took the folder and showed Asami the reports as soon as she took a seat beside her, explaining the incident in full detail as she did so. Asami stared down and studied the document while she listened attentively to the chief, her slender fingers slowly sliding down the words line by line. Korra stared at her as she did so, studying her expression to try and determine how she felt about the entire thing, but her expression was so plain and elusive that it was almost impossible. Even in this sight, she was still beautiful, but at the same time it felt slightly intimidating.

After they were finished, Asami continued to study the document. Korra waited, and it killed her to wait.

Finally, she looked up at Lin again. "All right. Future Industries will be answering for all of the charges denoted. I'll be leaving my credentials, and I'll allow the people affected the freedom to cash in whatever amount they need to cover the damages and hospital bills. Should there be any problems with the transactions, I'll be leaving my secretary in charge of that," she declared, her voice so clear and her statement so proficient that it would have turned Korra on if she wasn't in so much trouble. She continued, "I'll also have my men inspect the ships and properly dispose of the damaged tanks to prevent any further risks. And naturally, we'll be taking care of the repair process."

Lin seemed satisfied with that statement. "But what about the avatar?"

Asami didn't even bother looking at Korra. She looked down at the documents again and studied them, once again slowly killing Korra by making her wait. Korra leaned forward and waited eagerly for an answer, though she wouldn't be surprised if Asami decided to just leave her here.

Finally, she spoke. "I'll answer for the expenses to drop the charges."

Korra grinned, ever grateful, and Lin accommodated the request. "But just a warning, to prevent something like this from happening in the future, the next time this happens, I'll be charging Future Industries directly, whether the company is involved or not, with or without your consent," said Lin, and Asami shook her hand in compliance.

They both stood up so that they could proceed with the rest of the process and Korra followed them as they left the interrogation room.

-

After three long hours, Korra was finally released and she followed Asami as they left the headquarters. The engineer stayed silent as she walked, treading swiftly but still managing to keep herself poised, while Korra followed behind rather sloppily, almost stumbling. She had noticed that since Asami arrived, she had never once looked, even just glanced, at her. This was a plain indicator that she was indeed upset, and so Korra decided to keep her mouth shut, even when they entered the car and Asami started driving.

Asami kept her eyes fixed on the road, while Korra kept her eyes fixed on her. Again, there was no trace of anger. Her face was as blank as Korra's common sense when she decided to start that fight. For some reason, seeing her like this terrified Korra more than seeing her angry. Actually, she would have preferred that instead of this, where she couldn't even tell what Asami was thinking of or how she was feeling.

Eventually, Korra couldn't take it anymore. "Are you mad?" she asked. Mentally slapping herself afterwards. What a dumb question.

Again, the silence was brought to you by Asami Sato, CEO of Future Industries.

She kept driving, as if it was her only focus at the moment, and nothing else.

"Asami?"

She quickly took a turn and pulled over by one side of the road for a successful attempt at parallel parking, taking Korra by surprise and causing her to hold on to her seat. When the car came to a full stop, Asami finally spoke up. "Damn it Korra, of course I'm mad! You terrified me back there! What were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry I flipped out!" Korra blurted out, "But those guys were saying some really bad stuff about you, a-a-and I had absolutely no idea those tanks belonged to you and I didn't mean to cause that much damage and I'm sorry you had to pay for everything!"

"I don't care about that, I don't care about how much I'll be paying for it," Asami groaned, pressing her fingers against her forehead. "I thought something had happened to you. When Chief Beifong called me, she said you were involved in an accident with some of my products. How was I supposed to know you were the one who blew them up?"

"Look, I didn't mean for things to go that bad, I just wanted to teach those guys a lesson."

"For what? Calling me a fine piece of ass? For heaven's sake, Korra, not to brag but I own the biggest company in the city, and you're the Avatar. People will know about us, and naturally they're gonna talk about us, good or bad. We can't stop that. Do you actually plan on beating up every person in the world saying negative things about me? I mean, someone in the city is probably calling me an incompetent idiot right now. Do you also want to track them down and beat them up?" When Korra quietly shook her head in response, that was when it finally hit Asami like a slap in the face. "Wait, does this have something to do with the roofing incident?"

Korra couldn't hide the grimace. "Uh..."

"Korra," warned Asami.

"Okay, fine! It had everything to do with that!" Korra practically yelled, her hands following the frustration in her words. "I just wanted to be the one to defend you. I wanted to shove my foot up that guy'd ass."

And of course, Asami was simply exasperated. "I knew it. You know what? I think you should just--just go."

Korra frowned at her. "All right, but I just want you to know, for the record, the reason I did what I did is because I don't want you to think that I'm just the sweet, sensitive type. I'm the type who defends her girlfriend. I mean, I would never start a fight for no reason, but if one just happens to break out, I'm the one in the middle chucking rocks at people's faces, or if it's a no-bending-allowed situation, I'm the one wielding a bar stool."

"I would never date that kind of person, ever," Asami clarified. "It's pointless and juvenile."

Korra shrank into her seat once again, but Asami wasn't finished. "You know what I find attractive? Someone who listens to me. Like when I come home from a crazy day at work, someone who maybe wants to take the burden off by making little decisions so that I don't have to."

"What, like picking restaurants?" Korra scoffed.

"Exactly," Asami said plainly, as if for the first time for the whole day, Korra actually said something right. "Look, you're the avatar. Master of all elements, and the all-powerful keeper of balance. You saved the world four times in less than five years. You don't have to be threatened just because some guy called me a ho and I retaliated by roofing his stupid boot. I can handle myself, just like you can handle yourself, but there will always be times when one of us will need the other. Like maybe when you're too tired after a diplomatic trip from some far-off place, I can give you a massage in bed until you fall asleep. Or when I'm at work, how you just barge into my office to drag me out for lunch. I think it's sweet, how you remind me every day that I work to hard sometimes and that I need a break, even though I have to fix my door every day because you always break it. And do you remember the last time I said no to you?"

Korra stopped for a moment so she could answer the question properly. In her mind, she dissected every day she spent with Asami since they started dating, but she came up with nothing. She shook her head, saying, "No, I'm sorry."

"That's because I have never said no. Other than the fact that you never take no for an answer and I know you'll never stop until I say yes, I also don't want to say no. Look, I like what you do. It's sweet. If I wanted a mindless brawler, I never would have dated you," Asami sighed again, and turned forward, facing the steering wheel. "Look, I think we need some time off. My head hurts. I can't deal with this right now."

As much as Korra didn't want that, eventually she agreed.

-

During the weekend, Korra stayed at Air Temple Island to give Asami the space that she needed. Being out of Asami's radar killed her, but she figured she would need her space to focus on work, especially after all the trouble she's caused.

She spent most of her time training, and eventually Pema noticed that she's been doing it too much. And so during one of her pushup sessions at the gazebo overlooking Yue Bay, she finally decided to talk to the young woman.

Korra knows how little Pema's feet were, so she didn't have to look up to know who it was. She didn't say anything. She just kept doing her pushups.

"You should take a break." Pema finally said after a while.

"Can't. Need. To. Work. On. Upper. Body." Korra huffed, one word per push.

Pema crouched down in front of her, frowning. "You know, you haven't really told us why you came back here all of a sudden. We heard about the fuel tank fiasco. Did you and Asami get in a fight about it?"

Sometimes, Korra hated her motherly instincts and how she was always right. She figured Pema wouldn't stop pestering her until she talked, so after the three hundredth pushup, she stopped and sat down, crossing her legs. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with her towel. Pema took this as a yes and sat down as well. "Tell me all about it, dear."

And so Korra did. In full detail. From the roofing incident, to the arrest and everything else in between. Only then did Korra realize her insecurity and admitted it.

"I mean, what if one day her life becomes so perfect and realize she doesn't need me anymore?" she continued. "Oh don't think like that, dear," Pema rubbed her shoulder, "Asami loves you, and she will always need you. Just not in the way you expect it to. The two of you are very powerful role models in your own specialties, and in more ways than one, you'll still need each other."

Korra looked down at her feet, and after a while she scratched the side of her head in frustration. "Why am I such an idiot?!" she screamed at the sky.

"You're not an idiot," Pema said. "Look, you should go and talk to her. You can't hide here forever and hope that when you see her again, everything will be back to normal. It's just a rough patch. You just need to sit down and fix it."

"And just how am I supposed to do that? She said she needed space."

"And she also misses you. That, I know for sure."

Korra raised an eyebrow. "Even after what I did? She misses me? I wouldn't even be surprised if she called me right now just to break up with me."

Pema knocked on Korra's forehead in hopes to literally and figuratively knock some sense into her. "Stop thinking like that. What's wrong with you? Look, you just need to sort this out. A simple gesture will surely sweep her off her feet. Take her out to dinner, something like that."

"Hmm," Korra thought about it for a moment, and after a second, she snapped her fingers. "I have something better in mind."

-

It was Monday morning when Asami drove to the Future Industries tower uptown, heading straight to the legal department on the twenty-seventh floor. She arrived two hours earlier than usual, bracing herself for the documents regarding Korra's case from last Friday, which arrived over the weekend. She plans to finish them first before she goes to the warehouse later on to check on the next batch of gasoline tanks for shipping.

She entered her office and checked her desk for any letters from clients, and upon finding none, she proceeded to one of the conference rooms.

Asami saw several piles of documents neatly placed at the end of the long table, and immediately sat down so she could get to work. She was just about to take out her pen to begin reviewing and signing the expenditures when someone opened the door.

It was Faith, one of the accountants in her finance department. She didn't seem to notice that Asami was also in the room because she barged in mumbling nonsense, and she dropped her weight over the chair right next to her. Faith, much like Asami, was an epitome of poise and grace, so it surprised her to find the woman so out of character. Her hair was disheveled and wet, fresh from a shower, and her blouse was unbuttoned, the top two buttons, at least. She pulled out a pen of her own and started sorting the documents.

Asami stared at her for a while, but eventually she spoke up. "Rough night?"

Faith almost flew from her seat upon hearing Asami's voice. She really didn't notice that she was also in the room. She immediately straightened herself and stood up, bowing apologetically. "Good morning, Miss Sato!" she greeted. "I apologize. I didn't think you'd come in this early."

"Don't worry about it, Faith," Asami couldn't help but laugh. "Please. Sit back down."

Faith cleared her throat and did so, and in a matter of seconds, she was back to her usual self. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here so early? It's the finance department's responsibility to handle these documents."

"Yes, and the reason for that is because my girlfriend blew up my tanks," Asami said. "And they'll be submitted to my office for signing anyway, so I may as well get things done as quickly as possible. I appreciate your help, though. We can work together so that we can finish faster."

All that Faith could offer was a nod, and Asami smiled. They immediately began working, with Faith sorting out the documents by case and checking for any errors. She had a difficult time keeping up with Asami, because she was reading and signing faster than she could review and arrange the documents alphabetically. She was practically rushing just to keep up. It would be truly embarrassing to show any signs of incompetence in front of the big boss, the person who owns the company you're working for, so she was basically forcing all of her energy into what she was doing.

Asami eventually noticed this and decided to stop for a moment, sighing and leaning back to pretend that she was tired.

"I can take care of the rest if you're tired," Faith suggested.

"No, it's fine," Asami insisted, shaking her head. "I just need a minute. You should take a break, too. You don't seem to be in sync today. And when you came in, you were also pretty upset. Did something happen?"

At first, Faith was a little hesitant to talk about her personal life with her boss, but it would be rude not to answer, so she said, "I kind of broke it off with some guy I was dating."

"What happened?"

Faith sat back as well, gradually getting comfortable. "Well, I just think we're not compatible. I mean, he's just so... boyish. He's this big, macho, scruffy amateur pro-bender who likes meat a bit too much and tells too many dirty jokes. I can't believe it took so long before I realized it and ended things."

Asami raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. That definitely doesn't sound like your type of guy. Well then, why were you so upset earlier when you seem okay with the breakup?"

"Oh no, I wasn't upset with him," Faith laughed. "I was upset at myself because when we first met, I actually pretended to be into the same things he's into. I guess that's one of the traps set by boys with pretty faces. But that won't happen again. He's just not what I'm looking for."

"What are you looking for, then?" Asami couldn't help but pry. But it was nice getting to know her people on a personal level.

"Something like what you and Miss Korra have would be nice. Sweet, spontaneous. You must feel so safe with her."

Asami looked like she just had an epiphany. She stared blankly at the wall, at nothing in particular, causing Faith to stare at her in confusion. "Huh."

-

After a long day at work, Asami headed straight home to get some rest. After she parked the car, she made her way up the front entrance and was surprised when she saw Korra sitting at the steps, and next to her was a large paper bag. She actually came home later than usual, so she couldn't help but wonder how long she's been waiting there.

"I figured since you've been working so hard lately, perhaps I could take some of the burden off," Korra said as soon as Asami walked up close enough to hear, her voice slick and confident.

"Oh, really? What'cha got for me?" Asami raised an eyebrow. She proceeded to the door and walked right past her.

Korra smirked and stood up. "Seared wild elephant koi with a ginger-infused pea tendril and hibiscus root salad."

Upon hearing that, Asami stopped right where she was and turned her head towards Korra. "That's my favorite."

"There's more," Korra walked up to Asami so that she was right behind her, her face so close to her neck that she could feel her breath. It made Asami shiver, but she refused give in that easily. She played the game, and she knew she'll win. "Talk to me," she said in a husky voice.

"I was thinking maybe afterwards, I could take you out and buy you some egg tarts," Korra's lips were getting dangerously close to Asami's neck, but made no attempt at physical contact.

"Ooh."

Korra went on, "Maybe I'll also order some ice cream topped with mango and that round thing that you like I don't know the name of. And then maybe after that I could bring you back here, and I could do some," she brought her lips up to Asami's ear, "chores."

It was hard, but Asami gracefully resisted the urge to laugh. "What kind of chores?" she whispered.

Korra paused for a moment, her mouth agape as she tried to think of something to respond with. "I... was not prepared for you to ask me that."

They looked into each other's eyes, locking for seconds, with Asami seductively biting her lower lip as she brought her hand up against Korra's cheek, until they eventually burst out laughing. Korra wrapped her arms around her waist to minimize the physical gap, and Asami leaned in to give her a quick kiss and said, "I missed you."

Korra kissed her again. "I missed you too."

"Come on, let's eat," Asami took her hand and led her inside.

Korra set the food out and arranged the plates on the dining table while Asami made her way to the kitchen to look for some wine. She took two glass flutes and placed them on the counter and took a bottle of white wine from one of the shelves. As she looked down, she noticed a large spider on the table and took a nearby tabloid newspaper to kill it, but as she was about to, she stared at Korra through the door, and something better came in mind.

"Korra!"

Korra immediately shot up as soon as she heard Asami yell from the kitchen and rushed to see what had happened, running so fast that she almost missed the door.

When she entered the room, she found Asami standing on a stool at one corner, the one farthest from her, looking terrified.

"What is it? What is it?" Korra looked around for any signs of trouble.

Asami frantically pointed at the table, "There's a spider! A huge spider! Kill it!"

She looked right at the table and found it. "All right, I got this!" Korra took the nearby newspaper and rolled it in one hand, but instead of killing the spider, she made it walk up into the newspaper and carefully carried it out the back door. "All right, nobody needs to die today," she threw the spider out and laughed, "There you go, my friend, be free!"

Asami crossed her arms and smiled as she watched Korra, and waited for her to come back inside. As soon as Korra returned, she looked at Asami and smiled. Asami walked up towards her and once again locking her wrists behind her neck. "My hero," she says after another kiss.

"I didn't know you were afraid of spiders," After realizing what had happened, Korra raised an eyebrow and snickered. "Wait, you totally staged that, didn't you?"

Asami only grinned and kissed her again. "You know you love me."


End file.
